There is an abundance of girls’ series books which I was not previously aware of, probably because my hometown library didn’t have them. Many are from the same production houses that churned out the well-known Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames series. They all stick to the usual formulas: titles with a set pattern, either a mystery/adventure, or female career to follow, and standard characters (often a dead parent(s) or other interesting family situation for the heroine, always perky sidekicks, sometimes annoying adversaries). The three books I’ve recently encountered are: “Puzzle in Purple, A Connie Blair Mystery” (thanks Lisa! There’s also “Clue in Blue” and “Riddle in Red”), “Betty Gordon at Rainbow Ranch” (a Stratemeyer Syndicate series), and “The Secret of Magnolia Manor, The Vicki Barr Flight Stewardess Series”. Reading these books is like watching sitcoms. You know the formula, what to expect from the characters, and there’s not much underneath. Since they are all from earlier decades (1920’s-1940’s), I enjoy them as snapshots of history. I try to imagine what a girl in those times was getting from these books and how women are presented in them. Sometimes it’s not as bad as I expect. Many of them were written with the goal of encouraging independent thought. But the social differences are always pretty extreme! And the racism is, unfortunately, often worse than the outdated female roles.

The Millennial Medley Medals places me in good company. And it reminds me that you can’t be afraid of expressing your opinion if you want to be an effective writer.

The new trend where VCs cut their losses by closing down start-ups that have plenty of money left in the bank is mightily unsettling. I’ve worked through plenty of low cash situations (some which I probably never heard the worst of thanks to level-headed top management), and can make educated decisions about whether I want to tolerate a shaky financial climate. But you need different gauges for determining if a company is stable when VCs are looking to pull out the plugs when you have plenty of payroll left.

Before South Park, there was Ren & Stimpy. Yes, Nickelodeon used to have the sophisticated oomph of crass jokes too. It was just a few short years ago that people were bopping around to “Happy Happy Joy Joy” and singing the log commercial jingle. I’d almost forgotten. So what happened to those creative minds behind the behinds of the cat and the dog? Find out in The Completely Uncensored Unbelievably True Ren & Stimpy Story!. In a nutshell, Nickelodeon tried to get the cartoonists to sell out, and eventually decided that the network’s image shouldn’t be made in the potty-mouth show that gave its big break. (via Kestrel’s Nest)

Whew… I was away from the log for longer than I expected. But it was good for me to have a break. It helped me to remember that I started this log because I had interesting items and thoughts to share, and that I have them regardless of whether I have to have something to write in my log. Does that make sense? Ah well. Happy 2001 to all!

I am the proud owner of some amazingly random, stuffed Sushi Seal characters. They are seals in sushi configurations. The seal goes where the rice would be. Don’t question it; it’s one of those Japanese inventions that I sincerely hope they laugh about too. I have the Tamago-Kids: “They are always togehter (sic).” Indeed they are; they are attached in a pyramid and it would be difficult to separate them. Dad gets to carry around a slice of salmon and Mom is, fittingly I suppose, the roe.

I got a Digital Elph for Christmas. It came in handy for the foot of snow that blew in a few days later. I never took pictures of snow before because snow wasn’t a special event worthy of photography. Now I’m “from California”. But I’ll always be a Connecticut native. They can’t take that away from me.

I enjoyed this revealing gem of an expose on the amazingly similar Bush + nominees photos. Splice splice splice! Of course, this isn’t much better than all those photo-op reenactments of Senator Hillary being sworn in. Seems other people had to settle for Al Gore holding the Bible himself.

One of my favorite Christmas-time programs is on Wednesday night, The Kennedy Center Honors. Walter Cronkite hosts and it is always a pleasure to hear his voice. They put a lot of thought into the event, choosing memorable performances and participants who hold great meaning for the honorees. It’s not really a show for the general public as much as it is a tribute for the recipient. Someone who worked at the post-production firm used by their television producers told me that they insist on the highest quality work, and I believe it. It’s a genuine class act, which you don’t see much of on TV these days. Sadly two of last year’s honorees just died, Victor Borge and Jason Robards.

Muchos kudos to Amazon for automatically upgrading my order to next day delivery for no extra charge when they couldn’t get it out the door in time for standard delivery to arrive by Christmas. Now I don’t have to create lame paper representations of “gifts that you would be receiving in physical form if I hadn’t stayed away from the mall.”